Bicyclists have finished first 2 days of a 5-day tour of Southern Colorado

By Jessica Benes Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
06/10/2013 10:06:49 PM MDT

George Hincapie took a break from retirement this week to enjoy 139 miles of the first two days of Ride the Rockies, which is taking cyclists on a journey from Telluride to Colorado Springs. The professional cyclist rode in both 2011 and 2012 USA Pro Challenge Races among his other extensive professional accomplishments. He retired this year from the sport.

Loveland will host the sixth stage of the Pro Cycling Challenge in August.

Hincapie spoke Sunday evening to a crowd of riders who had that morning ridden 75 miles from Telluride to Cortez. He signed jerseys, postcards and riding gear and talked about his career in cycling.

Hincapie competed in 17 Ronde van Vlaanderen races; 17 Tours de France and finished second in the Paris-Roubaix.

He said that he grew up in New York and his father encouraged him to start bicycling. "There were times when I just wanted to watch cartoons," he joked.

At age 19, he started racing in Europe. "That's where I learned to race the Northern classics," he said.

He said that he enjoyed both USA Pro Challenge races. "It was a great event, the spectators were very enthusiastic," he said. "It was some tough racing and world class competition."

He told a story about riding up Independence Pass before that stage of the race in 2011 with his teammate, Tejay van Garderen because neither had ridden it before and wanted to check it out. They rode up the pass, down the other side, and then headed back up. Hincapie felt really good because he passed van Garderen and reached the top 30 seconds before the other professional cyclist. But by then, they were both hitting the wall and needed something to eat.

"A tourist came up and said, 'do you mind if I get a photo of you two,' and I said, 'Do you have any food? I'll give you my bicycle,'" Hincapie said. And then three days later, Tejay beat him up the climb in the race and the two took first and second place in that stage.

"Hopefully this race goes for a long time," he said. "I love Colorado; there were so many great host communities where there were tons of people cheering us on. That makes a great starting line."

Hincapie retired this year and said he no longer has to worry about his diet, keeping track of his heartbeat or biking in the rain if he doesn't want to. He is now focusing on other endeavors like a bicycle lodge and his cycling clothing line at hincapie.com.

Cyclists in Ride the Rockies have finished the first two days of the tour and will ride 86 miles from Durango to Pagosa Springs on Tuesday. Visit ridetherockies.com for more about the tour. Read columns online at reporterherald.com and http://jessicabenes.com for personal accounts by reporter Jessica Benes as she rides each day.